


After the War

by ticktockclockwork



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, First fights, M/M, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-06 17:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8762776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticktockclockwork/pseuds/ticktockclockwork
Summary: It starts out as nothing and turns into something. 
Pimmbits first fight. Communication out the wazoo. Happy ending for our dumb boys.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [PBJ_EpiFest_2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PBJ_EpiFest_2016) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Song/Artist: In our bedroom after the war by Stars  
> Prompt Details: I can see this as Jack getting better fic(or not) but if you see something else, run with it. I can also see this being really sad, so that's okay.  
> Additional Info: Happy or bitter-sweet ending please, preferably pb&j endgame  
> 

_ We won, or we think we did, when you went away, you were just a kid _ __  
_ And if you lost it all, and you lost it, we will still be there when the war is over _ __  


_ \--- _

The fight had been a bad one. Like, really bad. Probably the worst since the three of them had agreed to try and be, well, the three of them. It was bound to happen and they had all known that but still, the fallout was brutal in a way none of them had expected. Jack was alone, in Providence. Kent was staying with a friend nearby though Jack didn't know who. Bitty… he didn't know where Bitty had gone. His lack of response was scary, though not so much that he’d called Kent yet.

Right now he was just trying to figure out where it had all gone to shit. Things had been  _ fantastic _ . More than fantastic. They'd started this thing between them cautiously which was probably what had held this blowout at bay for as long as it had. They'd been dating for a little over half a year, having started just after the holidays, and now that neither the Aces nor the Falconers had made it to playoffs, they'd been planning for an amazing summer together. They hadn't had that yet, just the three of them with time to waste. They were going to spend the first half of the summer in Vegas, exploring the desert and enjoying the oppressive heat, then the second half until training started back up would be spent in Providence, where the weather would be more mild as it slipped into fall. They had a plan, and it had been a good plan, but even before it could get started it felt like it was crumbling away.

Kent had been in Providence for the Memorial Day weekend. They were going to make a trip of it, start off their long summer vacation properly by driving down to visit Kent's mother and sister in New York then continue on to Washington DC as none of them had been there yet. Bitty had wanted to go to some of the museum's, especially the Botanical Garden and Jack wanted to see the monuments, the history buff in him singing. Kent just liked road trips and was happy to play tourist with his boyfriends. He kept saying that the only souvenir he wanted was a selfie with Obama which never failed to make Bitty giggle and Jack sigh.

But when he'd arrived, he'd been in a sour mood. The flight from Vegas had been delayed nearly four hours which caused him to miss his connecting flight in Atlanta. Atlanta, being the worst airport ever created according to Bitty, was just as described. He'd had to get a hotel for the night and fly out the next morning. The turbulence had been awful, a child one row over had gotten sick, and when his aisle mate had gotten up to get something out of the overhead bin, a laptop had come crashing down on his head.

Needless to say, he'd been a bit perturbed when he'd finally gotten off the flight and had gone to meet Bitty. Jack had had a rough morning of his own, his anxiety flaring up after they'd caught the tail end of a conversation about his career on ESPN and so it was Bitty who had come on his own to pick up Kent. He looked tired and that soothed something in Kent, some small 'misery loves company' part that he wouldn't admit to. He smiled when he saw Kent, though, and that made it all better.

“Hey sweetheart.” Bitty murmured, eyes darting quickly over Kent's face then body, reading him and no doubt noting all the miniscule details of Kent's own bad mood.

Kent dropped his bag and didn't even care as he reached for Bitty and pulled him in close. “Hey sunshine.” He whispered, kissing the top of Bitty's head and just holding him in a deep hug. Guiltily, he was kind of happy Jack hadn't been able to come too. It meant he had Bitty to himself for a little bit. Bitty could focus on him and his bad mood. Jack had already gotten him that morning, it was only fair Kent got to enjoy him now.

He'd held onto the other long enough that Bitty finally gave a giggle and stepped back, looking up to Kent with a knowing smile. “You're all rumpled. Was the flight that awful?” He asked, reaching to take Kent's laptop bag from him so he could just worry about his duffle.

“Oh my god Bitty it was the  _ worst _ .” And he slumped a little, heading to parking. “It was cramped and this kid fucking threw up and then someone hit me with a laptop, like, on purpose I think and just Atlanta is awful and just…” he trailed off and continued his rambling, Bitty humming and nodding at the appropriate moments. He would have gone on for a lot longer but suddenly Bitty slid his hand into Kent's, lacing their fingers, and it all poofed away. Kent blinked and looked down to their clasped hands, the simple gesture sending his heart into his throat. “Fucking shit, Bits, I love you so much.” He sighed and finally the last bit of tension seemed to leave him.

Bitty simply hummed, shaking his head fondly and heading for their car.

The drive home had only the normal amount of traffic which was a blessing and Kent chattered enough to fill the silence. Bitty stayed strangely quiet but it had been a bit since Kent had seen him so he figured Bitty was letting him ramble. It was late afternoon, the sun was high, they drove with the windows down and as they got to the apartment, it seemed like everything was cool. But as they got upstairs, Bitty set Kent's bag by the couch then headed for the kitchen alone. It was Kent who called out to Jack and in the end it was Kent who had to go looking for him as Jack didn't respond.

He found him in the bedroom, laying in bed with his arm covering his eyes. His jaw was tight, but Kent still flopped down atop him, grinning big. “Zimms! Babe, babe I missed your dumb face, you have no idea.” Jack only grunted his reply and didn't move his arm, so Kent crawled off him and up to lay next to him instead. “Ya got a headache?” Kent asked, trying to lift Jack's arm so he could see his face. “Do you want me to turn off the lights or something?”

“Bitty and I had a… disagreement.” Jack said tensely.

That gave Kent pause. “A disagreement? What about? Bitty didn't mention anything on the drive over…”

“No, we wouldn't, would he.” Jack snipped and Kent looked back, frowning again.

“Do you want to talk about it…?”

“Not even a little.”

Kent sighed and rubbed the space between his brows before nodding. “Alright.” He leaned down to kiss Jack's lips just barely before slipping from bed. “Well I'll be out in the living room when you want to welcome me properly.” Kent left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Bitty couldn't be roused to conversation either, saying he was 'fine’ and that there wasn't anything to discuss. Kent, having done all he felt compelled to do, lounged on the couch for the rest of the afternoon while Bitty stress baked some energy bars and mini quiches. Kent spied some cupcake wrappers on a side counter though not the cupcakes themselves. Eventually Jack did come out, mood no better, but at least he was upright. He sat down at the breakfast bar and watched Bitty, then looked back to Kent. “So… how was the flight.”

Bitty snorted derisively and shook his head while Kent sat up, looking at his watch. “Wow, only three hours later. Good job Jacky boy.”

“Give me a break, I wasn't feeling well.” Jack responded.

“Yeah well so isn't Bits but you don't see him wallowing like a thirteen year old.”

“No he just bakes to avoid his problems, really mature.”

Bitty slammed his baking sheet on the counter and whirled around on them. He was red in the face, a mixture of anger and hurt and embarrassment in his eyes. Kent had flinched but Jack just turned and faced the other. “If you don't like it that I bake when I'm stressed then you should have said so years ago before we got into this.”

“I did, don't you remember? Eat more protein, Bittle.”

“Jack-” it was Kent, trying to stop whatever trainwreck was happening in front of him.

“Oh! Oh I remember just fine, Jack. I remember you yelling at me in front of the team repeatedly. I remember you being the biggest jerk ever to me for an entire year just because you were stressed. As if you're the only one who deals with that stuff.”

“Whoa, Bits, c’mon-”

“You don't know a damn thing about “dealing with that stuff”, Eric so don't insult me by pretending you do.” Jack snarled.

“Oh,  _ my apologies _ Mr. Zimmerman. Please, continue telling me how I don't understand stress, or anxiety, or fear. Go on, I love hearing how you're the end all opinion on this and how none of us could EVER understand. Forget, you know, how the both of us deal with our own problems, or frankly how we deal with YOUR problems too. Noooooo, there's simply no way for me to understand.”

“Crisse, stop it, Eric you're always so melodramatic.”

“Jesus, Jack, Eric, come on-”

“No! No, this is wonderful. Not only am I an idiot but now I'm a melodramatic idiot. Just a stupid redneck gay who don't know nothing, huyuck.”

“Alright that's enough!” Kent finally snapped, scrambling to stand. “Jesus fucking Christ that's fucking enough.” Jack was calm, frozen over and staring at the wall behind Bitty. Bitty was shaking, anger so visible on his face and he was looking directly at Jack. Kent had to take a breath, to steady himself. “Okay, so I'm not even going to comment on the fact that out of the three of us, I'm being the least dramatic here. Instead I'm going to demand an explanation over what the fuck I missed this morning because clearly I missed something.”

No one volunteered to answer right away so Kent huffed again. “Bitty?”

“Ask Jack. He seems to have the answers to everything.”

Kent closed his eyes to curb his frustration and turned to Jack instead. “Alright, Jack?” Jack was reticent, keeping his eyes on the space behind Bitty. The only thing that gave him away was the labored rise and fall of his chest. “For fucks sake…” Kent sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Would someone just fucking talk?! Y’all couldn't shut up a minute ago.”

“ESPN was talking about my overdose again. I-... We caught the end of it. Wasn't pretty.” it was Jack who explained, voice careful and controlled.

“Alright, what happened next?”

“... Eric made cupcakes.”

“I was just trying to help…” Eric cut in.

“Yeah well sometimes baking doesn't fix everything, no matter how cute you think it is.”

“Jack, cut that bullshit right now.” Kent glanced to Bitty and saw the hurt in his eyes, the stubborn refusal to let himself cry. “Just tell me what happened. We’ll fix this.”

“I explained to him-”

“He yelled at me.”

“I  _ explained  _ that sometimes I don't need baked good when I'm upset. That I was surprised he didn't know that already.”

“Well sometimes I don't know, Jack!” Bitty threw his hands up in the air. “Sometimes you shut us out so much that I don't know how to help so I just… I just do what I know! You're impossible to read sometimes, I didn't know what you'd want or need..”

“If you'd just ask.”

“I do! I ask all the tim-”

“No, you just fuss and tut and complain and say 'oh Jack don't listen to them, hahah they're just dumb commentators, they don't know the truth' as if it's so easy to ignore.”

“Jack, stop it.” Kent snapped again, growing more frustrated by the moment. “Was that the end of it?” Neither of the men spoke up. “Of course it wasn't. Of fucking course. Bits what happened next.”

“... I  _ explained, _ ” yelled “to him that that's how we do things in the south sometimes. How I handled stress or anxiety, I baked. And I ignored it. Because it's the only thing I could do. We couldn't afford anything else and it's not like anyone would believe me or anything-”

“So what, I'm  _ privileged _ because I could get help and you couldn't? That I'm lucky-?”

“No, that's not what- ugh, stop… stop twistin’ my words around!”

“Stop it! God, just shut up, the both of you!” Kent had his hands in his hair. The emotions in the room had finally gotten to him and he was angry now too, frustrated that the two men he loved were at each others throat like this. Kent wasn't the one who knew how to fix this. That was Bitty's job, he always knew what each of the boys wanted. And usually it was Jack and Kent bickering with one another. Not Jack and Bitty, ever steadfast, ever strong. What did it mean that they were fighting so viciously right now?

“I can't always fix everything… I wish I could, but I just can't.” It was Bitty, speaking as if he'd read Kent's mind.

“Well maybe you should just stop trying then, if you can't do it right.”

“Jack.” Kent had gasped, but the damage was done. Bitty couldn't hold back the tears that broke free. He quickly moved past them both, a hand over his mouth as he all but fled to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. The silence in the room was deep and deafening and Kent couldn't find any words in him that could break it. He was furious with Jack. He knew him well enough to know he'd just been mean for the sake of being mean and that in all likelihood he didn't mean a word of it. But Bitty didn't have the luxury of years with Jack and, honestly, had mostly only known the best of him. The Jack in front of Kent right now, rigid and silent, was 100% pre-Samwell Jack. Ugly, cruel, unstable. He was dangerous both to himself and to those he loved.

Bitty emerged from the bedroom with a bag slung around his chest, señor bun clutched in his hand. He didn't look at Jack or Kent, wiping at his eyes and grabbing one set of keys.

“Bits, hey, no don't do this. Don't leave, come on.” Kent moved after him, trying to catch him, to stop him.

“Let me go.” Bits had gasped, pushing Kent's hand off him. He yanked open the door and stumbled out into the hallway. Kent couldn't leave it at that and moved after him, letting the front door shut behind him. Jack could hear the sounds of their rapid discussion, muffled behind the door. Then nothing. As Kent pushed the door to the apartment back open, Jack could see the elevator closing.

“Bitty's staying somewhere else tonight.” Kent said, voice clipped.

“Where?”

“I don't know…”

“Is he coming back?”

“I don't know…”

“Well did he say when-”

“I don't know, Jack! Fucking hell, I don't know, why don't you go ask him? Stop him like you should be doing and find out for yourself!” Kent gave him the time but he didn't budge. “Yeah that's what I thought. You always were a stubborn asshole when you thought you were in the right.” Pushing away from the door, he stalked to the bedroom and made himself a bag too.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I am Zimms. I'm going to go stay with a friend because I can't really look at you right now.”

“You're just siding with Bitty becau-”

“No, Jack! I'm not siding with anyone here. I’m just mad at you. Plain and simple, I'm pissed as fucking hell at  _ you _ . I'm mad at Bitty too but right now I'm more mad at you.”

“You know how I get when-”

“YOU CHASED BITTY OUT OF OUR HOME, JACK!” Kent roared and finally,  _ finally,  _ Jack turned to look at him. “You yelled at him, put him down, and chased him out and somehow you're trying to use your anxiety as an excuse? Well fuck that and fuck you. You don't get a free goddamn pass to be an asshole just because you're in a shitty place. We all have shitty places, it's our jobs to learn to fucking deal with them and not YELL at each other about it.” He was digging through the bathroom now and Jack saw him take his prescription bottle out, tip out one pill to leave on the counter, then shove the rest of it in his own bag.

A sickening feeling settled in his gut. The last time he and Kent had fought this badly, Kent had left and Jack had ODed. The fact that he didn't trust Jack right now, that he didn't trust him not to overdose, spoke to how badly this had all fallen. “W-wait.” Jack tried, only just starting to see how it was all slipping out of his control.

“Uh, yeah, no. Like I said, can't look at you. So I'm going to go and you're going to fucking straighten out, and when you've figured your goddamn shit out, feel free to call.” Kent stomped past him, and out the door, elegantly slamming it behind him.

That had been over fourteen hours ago.

Jack hadn't slept.

It was late morning now, Jack had cleaned up the kitchen, and the living room, and the bedroom. He'd taken his one pill, and he'd sat on the couch, and he'd waited.

And he'd waited.

And he'd waited.

And when he couldn't wait any longer, he called. Kent picked up after the second ring but he didn't say anything. It was his turn to wait. Jack could hear sounds behind him, the quiet murmuring of a TV, muffled traffic from an open window. He ached, suddenly and fiercely, from not knowing where Kent was, who he was staying with, how he was feeling. He ached from the guilt of who he'd been last night, what he'd said and done, and what he was scared he'd lost this morning. “I'm sorry…” he all but sobbed, unable to keep it contained. “I'm so sorry.”

Kent was quiet for a very long time, and though it hurt to bear, Jack bore it, using it to compose himself. “I shouldn't have… acted the way I did last night. It was u-unacceptable.” He wiped at his nose, and let out a shaking breath. “Inexcusable. I am so sorry.” He hesitated, knowing he didn't have a right to ask it but unable to keep himself from doing so anyways. “Come home? Please…” he could hear himself begging but found he didn't care. “Please.”

Jack could hear Kent sigh before making a noise. “Okay.”

Something crumbled in Jack and he slumped against the couch. “Have you… do you… Bitty?”

“He's here with me.” Kent murmured. “He's sleeping still.”

“Oh thank god.”

“Yeah. I'm going to go now. We’ll come over when he's ready.” Then Kent hung up and once again, Jack had to wait.

They came home late that afternoon. Jack stood rigid in the middle of the living room, alert each time he heard the elevator chime. He looked to Kent first who opened the door with bags in hand. He met his eyes then looked behind him to Bitty. And oh, how it hurt to see but Bitty looked miserable. He was wearing different clothes, but his eyes were dark and his hair was only a little put together. He was looking at the floor, not meeting Jack's eyes and Jack had never felt so small.

He took a step forward.

Bitty took a step back.

Kent watched it all impassively, only waiting a moment before moving past Jack to dump the bags in the bedroom. When he came back out, he took Bitty's hand and led him to sit down on the couch. Then he pointed to Jack and then the loveseat. Jack obeyed without complaint. Never taking his eyes off Bitty though the other still refused to look at him.

“Bitty and I talked last night.” Kent spoke up, looking to Bitty then back to Jack. Jack desperately wanted to ask where they'd been, when Kent had found Bitty, if they'd left together. But he stayed silent instead, waiting. “You and I,” he motioned between himself and Jack. “We've been unfair to him. I didn't realize until last night how much we expect him to fix everything when we're mad at each other.” he sighed and shook his head. “I was useless last night. I tried diffusing the situation like Bitty does but I… I don't know, everything just got worse. I couldn't do anything. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want Bitty to be the one we expect to make everything good again when they go bad. We're all responsible for this relationship working and one person can't be expected to hold it together.” Kent dipped his head until Bitty glanced to him. “For that I am sorry. I'm sorry Bits. That wasn't fair to you and I am sorry.” Bitty held his eyes before nodding and looking down again.

Kent continued on, taking his role as mediator seriously. “Jack.” Jack looked to him immediately, eyes wide. “I should not have left last night like I did.” Jack looked stunned but Kent didn't stop. “I know what you're thinking and I'll say it now. Yes, you were as horrible as you think you were, but that doesn't mean you should be left alone. You aren't a burden to be left behind when it feels like you're too much. I've done this to you in the past and I don't want it to be a habit.” he held up his hand when Jack went to protest. “I cannot promise that I won't walk out, but I promise I'll call next time. And if I can, I'll come back sooner. After I've recentered. I know you were up all night, scared?” Jack nodded, and Kent saw Bitty's eyes flick to the movement then away again. “Yeah, I don't ever want you to be scared like that Zimms. That you're being abandoned. So, for that I'm sorry.”

Jack swallowed tightly and just managed a small 'merci’.

Kent sighed and rubbed his face, looking to Jack. “I think it's your turn. Say your peace. Both good and bad. Bitty will stay quiet, let you say what you need to, then he'll talk. No one will interrupt each other. No one will try to hurt each other. We will  _ probably _ hurt each other but we all know right now it is not intentional. This is just going to hurt. Everyone understand?” Jack nodded and then Bitty, smaller. “Okay, good. Jack?”

“I'm sorry.” He said it like the words were ripped out of him, like he'd been waiting to say it this whole time, which he had. “I'm so so sorry.” He scooted to the edge of his seat, desperately wishing Bitty would look up, would meet his eyes. He wasn't good with words like the other two were. But he had to be now. “I… I was very stressed last night. From the ESPN bit as well as… other things.” He flushed and looked to his hands. “Our plans for the summer have made me… anxious. But I didn't say anything because I knew you were both excited. I'd hoped it would just go away. It didn't and I should have said something. I'm not very good at that.” Bitty pulled his knees up to his chest and the ache around Jack's heart became a chasm.

“I- I…” he stumbled over his words, trying to regain his train of thought. “It isn't an excuse, my anxiety. But I used it as one last night. I was… convinced. That I was in the most need of attention. I got angry because I didn't feel like you were taking it as seriously as you should have been.”

“We didn't know-”

“Bits, no interrupting.” Kent said quietly, a hand reaching out to touch Bitty's knee. Not had to close his eyes and hold his breath, but Kent didn't relent. “Let him finish.”

Jack watched Bitty, but when he wouldn't meet his eyes he continued. “You're right. You didn't know. Which is my fault. You didn't know, and I didn't tell you and yet I still expected you to fix it. It wasn't fair…” he hesitated because he knew the next part would be hard to say and hard to hear. “I also… don't always understand your coping mechanisms.” Closing his eyes, he ran his fingers through his hair. “You avoid problems, Bits. You ignore them and you.. you do things like baking or singing or twittering or whatever. And I don't understand it. You did it last night with me. You left to pick up Kent on your own, you didn't ask if I wanted to come, and then when you came home you didn't say anything to me. And you didn't talk to Kent about any of it, which made me feel like I was the bad guy in that situation. It didn't feel fair.”

Kent reached over and set his hand on Jack's knee. Jack took it in his own and held it dearly, like the anchor it was. Then he continued. “I was angry. And I was spiralling. I'd hoped it would go away if I just stayed in the bedroom but it didn't. Then you started snapping back which you almost never do and it just… my emotions got out of my control. But Bitty,” He scooted closer to Bitty, earnest and begging him to look up. Bitty finally did. “None of that excuses what I said to you. I was… cruel. I wanted to hurt you, and I did, and that fact makes me sick. I love you _so_ much and I am sorry. I am truly, _truly_ sorry.”

He fell quiet, exhausted. He had no more words in his vocabulary. The only thing he wanted to say was I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, until Bitty would hold his gaze for longer than a few seconds. He was crying again, silent tears making their way down his cheeks to stop at his stubborn chin.

Kent leaned over and kissed Bitty's temple, stroking back his hair, his other hand still clasped in Jack's. “It's your turn, sunshine.” Kent whispered, his brow furrowed. Jack could see that this was just as hard for him to watch as it was for Jack. Neither of them took joy in Bitty's tears, not these ones.

“I…” Bitty started, his voice hoarse and timid. “I don't do confrontation well. I've been yelled at a lot in my life, made to feel worthless... Made to feel very small, both physically and emotionally. And it isn't something I react to well. I do even worse when it's from someone I l-love.” He wouldn't look at Jack or Kent now. “To c-cope with that, when I'm feeling… useless. Well, I try to make things. I try to produce. Because then there is a physical embodiment of my value.” he covered his eyes briefly, chin wobbling. “Yesterday, when I didn't know how to help you, when everything I did made it worse and when you got mad about it… well I tried to make something. I wasn't trying to ignore…. Ignore the problem. I just didn't know how to fix the problem. And admitting that I didn't know meant I wasn't useful. So maybe, maybe if I could make something, then maybe I'd be useful. You usually like it when I make things.”

He took a deep breath and then let it out in a rush. “Eventually… I just got tired of you making me feel… small. Which is when I started arguing back. And saying mean things. And letting things get out of control. I knew what was happening. And I knew… I knew how to stop it but i didn't want to. Because I was tired of being the only one who knew how. I felt… I feel like you both don't take the time to learn. Like Kent said, you just expect me to do it. But sometimes I don't want to be that person… last night I didn't want to be that person. So even though I saw things getting out of control, I didn't try and stop it. I was… punishing you, I guess.” He glanced to Kent then away again. “It was low of me to do that. To make things worse just because I could. I was selfish last night, to both of you. I'm sorry.”

Silence fell between the three of them. Kent was resting his forehead to Bitty's temple, face twisted in pain. He had his other hand laced with Jack's still, thumb running back and forth over Jack's fingers. Finally, he took a deep, labored breathing. “Thank you, both, for being honest.” Kent whispered, sitting back. “Bits, I need you to look at me. Then look at Jack.” He instructed so softly. It took Bitty awhile but eventually he complied. “Now listen to me. I'm going to tell you this now and I will continue to tell you this for the rest of my life if I have to… but your worth is not defined by how useful you are.” Kent watched Bitty's face but Bitty couldn't look away from Jack now. “Your value is just in the fact that you're Bitty. You're  _ our _ Bitty. And so long as you are you, then you are valuable. You could never make another baked good from now until you die and you'd still be valuable.”

Jack found his words, when he needed them most. “You are the strongest person I've met, Bits. You are brave and funny and bright and empathetic and just… kind. You are you and we both love every single atom in your body for it. You are worthy of everything you get just for being you. No more no less.” He couldn't help himself as he moved off the seat to sit on his knees in front of Bitty on the floor. He tentatively reached up and set his hand on Bitty's foot. “I’m sorry anyone has ever made you feel otherwise, made you second guess your self worth. I'm sorry that that person was me.”

Bitty was looking down to Jack, a tear dripping off his chin and onto Jack's hand. Jack held his breath, feeling like they'd crossed over something, made it through. He watched Kent stroke Bitty's back, watched him soothe an ache inside the other, before finally Bitty dropped his feet and opened his arms for Jack.

He moved without hesitation, gathering Bitty up into his arms and crawling up onto the couch more firmly with him. He cradled the back of Bitty's head while his other arm wound around his waist. With his face buried in Bitty's shoulder he could hear but not see the other man's sobs but he didn't worry. Kent was already leaning over and around them both to whisper to Bitty, kiss what skin was exposed.

It took time for things to settle. Kent and Jack shifted so they could be more comfortable with Jack resting on Kent's chest. Bitty stayed burrowed in Jack's arms before finally emerging, red eyed and rumpled. He sniffed loudly and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Our first fight.” He whispered so softly and Kent smiled, reaching forward to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear.

“And of course, us being us, we had to make it a real doozy.” Kent teased, making Bitty smile just a little.

“But we're together on the other side of it…” he whispered, looking up to Jack then to Kent.

Jack kissed his forehead then leaned down to catch his lips. “Always together.” He agreed with a nod, smiling when he felt Kent nuzzle his shoulder and Bitty tuck back in against his chest. They eventually gathered themselves enough to move themselves to their bed, leaving the lights off in the bedroom and curling up under the blankets. They curled up together, whispered sweet I love yous together and finally, finally, found sleep together. They'd won the war, and came out of it stronger, more sure of this unsure thing they were creating. New York could wait, the summer could wait. Right now they had each other, their bedroom, and their love.

\---

_ Here it comes! Here comes the first day! Here it comes! Here comes the first day! _ __  
_ It starts up in our bedroom after the war _ _  
_ __ After the war! After the war...

**Author's Note:**

> So, story time. I've loved this song for years. And for me it's always been a fight/make-up song. Like 100%. And since the comics are only really able to show us a small sliver of life for Bitty and Jack, I wanted to explore them resolving some issues that haven't been addressed yet. Communication is key to any relationship and fights happen. People get ugly, say things they regret, and hurt the purple they love. That's life, it happens.
> 
> What makes them work is being able to see through that and forgive. Which I hope I did well with this. This song is, ultimately, hopeful and I wanted to bring the fic closed in the same way. I hope you enjoy it and that I did justice to an excellent song!
> 
>  
> 
> You can reblog this work [HERE](http://pbj-epifest.tumblr.com/post/154751021014/fic-after-the-war) from the pbj-epifest tumblr page!


End file.
